Linktree vs Milkshake 2026: Mobile-First Pick, $357 Fee Flip

Milkshake is a phone app with no desktop editor and a seller fee that starts at 12% and tapers to 7%. Linktree works on web and app, and its fee drops to 0% on Premium. Pick Milkshake if you build on your phone and sell under about $357 a month. Pick Linktree if you edit across devices or sell more.

	Milkshake	Linktree
Where you build	iOS + Android app only	Web + app
Layout	Card / story style	Classic link list
Free plan	Yes, fully functional	Yes
Paid plans (monthly)	Lite $2.99, Pro $6.99, Pro+ $10	Starter $8, Pro $15, Premium $35
Seller fee	12% Free and Lite, 9% Pro, 7% Pro+	12% Free, 9% Starter and Pro, 0% Premium
Custom domain	Pro+ only ($99.99/yr)	Not on any plan
Best for	Building fast on your phone	Cross-device editing, higher sales volume

Disclosure: we make Linkero, a third option covered near the end. It is not ranked against these two.

Which one should mobile-first creators pick?

Milkshake. It was built as a website builder that lives on your phone, and every part of it assumes that: the editor, the swipeable card templates, even cancellation, which runs through your iPhone or Google Play settings. You can have a finished, polished page in minutes without touching a laptop.

The trade-off is absolute, not a matter of degree. Milkshake has no desktop or web editor at all. If you do not have your phone, you cannot edit your page. If a teammate or assistant helps with your links, they need your phone or your login on theirs. Linktree runs the other way: you build on the web or in its app and edit from whichever device is in front of you.

So the mobile-first question comes down to one test. If your whole creator workflow already happens on one phone, Milkshake fits the way you work. If you ever edit from a computer, Linktree removes a constraint you will eventually hit.

What do Milkshake and Linktree cost in 2026?

Both have a real free plan. The paid ladders diverge after that.

Plan	Milkshake	Linktree
Free	$0, 12% fee	$0, 12% fee
Entry	Lite $2.99/mo, 12% (removes branding)	Starter $8/mo, 9%
Mid	Pro $6.99/mo or $5/mo annual, 9%	Pro $15/mo or $12/mo annual, 9%
Top	Pro+ $10/mo or $8.33/mo annual, 7%	Premium $35/mo or $28/mo annual, 0%

On subscription price alone, Milkshake is cheaper at every rung, and it removes its branding at $2.99 where Linktree makes you reach Pro at $15. Linktree's prices rose in late November 2025 (Starter $5 to $8, Pro $9 to $15, Premium $24 to $35); the full history is in Linktree pricing 2026, and whether Pro is worth it is covered in Linktree Free vs Pro.

But subscription price is only half the bill if you sell anything.

Where do the seller fees cross over?

Both platforms take a percentage of every sale on top of Stripe's processing fee, which is the same on both and cancels out. Adding the subscription to the platform fee gives the real monthly cost of the cheapest plan on each side:

Monthly sales	Milkshake (cheapest plan)	Linktree (cheapest plan)
$100	$12 (Free)	$12 (Free)
$200	$24 (Free or Pro+)	$24 (Free)
$300	$31 (Pro+)	$35 (Premium)
$500	$45 (Pro+)	$35 (Premium)
$1,000	$80 (Pro+)	$35 (Premium)
$2,000	$150 (Pro+)	$35 (Premium)

Three things fall out of that table that most comparisons miss.

Under $200 a month, they cost the same. Both free plans take 12%, and neither paid ladder pays for itself yet.

Between $200 and $357, Milkshake wins, but barely. Pro+ at $10 plus 7% beats everything Linktree offers in that band, by at most about $5 a month.

Above $357 a month, Linktree Premium is cheaper than every Milkshake plan, and the gap grows by 7 cents on every extra dollar you sell. The "Milkshake's 7% beats Linktree's 9%" line is only true tier for tier. It ignores that Linktree's top tier charges 0%.

There is a quieter finding inside Milkshake's own ladder: Pro is never the cheapest plan on fees. On monthly billing, Pro+ overtakes Pro at $150 in sales, before Pro overtakes Free at $233. On annual billing, Pro and Pro+ both cross Free at about $167. Buy Milkshake Pro for its features (Meta pixel, 365 days of insights, contact forms), not to save on fees. Linktree has the mirror case: its Pro costs more than Starter at the same 9%, so it is a features purchase too.

If you are setting prices for your own products, our free pricing table generator lays out tiers you can drop onto either page.

Can you use a custom domain on either?

Milkshake can, but only on Pro+, its top tier ($99.99 a year billed annually). Free, Lite and Pro stay on a milkshake.app address. Linktree offers no custom domain on any plan: its help center says it does not offer the option and does not provide tools for domain forwarding either. Redirect links are the only workaround, and visitors still land on linktr.ee.

If owning your URL matters, that settles it in Milkshake's favour, as long as you accept its top plan. The options across tools are in how to use a custom domain for your link in bio.

Which is better for cross-device editing and integrations?

Linktree. Because it builds on the web, you can edit from a laptop, share access with a team on Premium, and use its integration library: Google Analytics and Meta Pixel on Pro, mailing list tools, scheduling. Milkshake covers the essentials on its paid tiers (Meta pixel on Pro, Google Analytics on Pro+, Mailchimp and Sheets for mailing lists), but all of it is managed from the app. For more cross-device options at a lower price, see the best link in bio tools under $5.

When neither Linktree nor Milkshake fits

There is a third case both handle badly: you want a design-first bio page on your own domain with no seller fee, without being locked into a phone app or paying for a top tier just to use your own URL.

Linkero (our tool, so weigh that) includes a custom domain and branding removal on its entry paid plan, charges 0% platform fees, and edits on desktop or mobile. It is the wrong pick if you specifically want Milkshake's swipeable cards built on your phone, and it has no free published plan, where both Linktree and Milkshake do. Plans are on our pricing page. For other head-to-heads, Carrd vs Linktree covers the one-page-site route and Stan Store vs Linktree the dedicated-storefront route.

FAQ

Is Milkshake better than Linktree?

For building on your phone, yes. For editing across devices, working with a team, or selling more than about $357 a month, Linktree is the better fit. Below $200 a month in sales the two cost the same.

Why don't people use Linktree anymore?

Many still do. The ones who leave usually cite the late-2025 price increases, the lack of a custom domain on any plan, and seller fees on the cheaper tiers. If trust is the question, is Linktree safe covers its data and account practices.

Is there a better option than Linktree?

It depends on the job. Milkshake for phone-first, card-style pages; Carrd for a small site you design; a storefront tool if you mainly sell; a link-in-bio tool with a custom domain on its entry plan if owning the URL matters. Beacons vs Linktree covers another common switch.

Is Milkshake a good website builder?

For a phone-built, card-style site, it is genuinely good and fast, and its free plan is fully functional. Its limits appear when you want to edit from a computer, want a classic link-list layout, or share editing with someone else.

Bottom line

Milkshake for building on your phone, Linktree for editing anywhere. On fees, they tie below $200 a month in sales, Milkshake Pro+ is slightly cheaper up to $357, and Linktree Premium's 0% wins everything above that. Milkshake can give you a custom domain on Pro+; Linktree cannot at any price.